Whipstock for wells



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, F. l. GETTY WHIPSTOCK FOR WELLS Filed OCT.. l, 1925 2 Sheets-Shea L l .my 22, 1924. I

' F. l. GETTY WHIPSTOCK `FOR WELLS 2 .Sheets-She@t Filed Oct. l i923 lllllllllll llllllllll ...Hu-l. I

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Patented `luly 22, 1924. V

- UNITED STATES FRED I. GETTY, 0F JENNINS, LOUISIANA.

WHIPSTOCK FOR WELLS.

Application led October 1, 1923. Serial No. 665,827.l

To all whom 'it may concern.' I

Be it known that I, FRED I. GETTY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jennings, in the arish of Jeerson Davis and State of Louisiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in /Whipstocks for Wells, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to whipstocks, and has as an object the provision -of a device of this character which may be set in a well and locked therein against movement during subsequent operation. A further ob, ject of the invention is the provislon of a tool for setting whipstocks having provision for removing from the well the head of a stud bolt which is sheared olf after the whipstock is set. A. further object of the invention is the provision of a whipstock that will be pressed firmly against the side of the casing at its upper end.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings showing an illustrative embodiment of the invention, and in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation of the apparatus before the whipstock is finally placed in its permanent position.

Fig. 2 is a like view of the whipstock fixed in position, showing a wedge with smooth edges.

Fig. 3 is a detail view similar to Fig. 1 upon an enlar ed scale, showing the lower end'of the whipstock before it is placed 1n its permanent position. I

Fig. 4 is a detail vlew slmllar to Flg. 2, upon an enlarged scale, showing the lower end of the whipstock placed and locked in position.

Fig. 5 is a detail view partly 1n central vertical section, upon an enlarged scale, of

the upper end of the whipstock and the setting tool.

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the whipstock.

Fig. 7 is a detail section on line 8, 8 of Fig. 5 of the end of the setting tool only.

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the form .of a stud bolt adapted to'support the whipstock and coact with the setting tool.

Fig. 9 is a bottom plan view of the whipstock.

Fig. 10 )is a detail elevation similar to Fig. 3 and showing a modified form of wedge and operating mechanism.

Fig. 11 is an elevation upon an enlarged wedge.

.in the drillingy of koil wells, it is some? times necessary to offset the hole at the bottom. This may be due to loss of tools, pipe or other things in the well, or it may be desirable after the well has become oldL and nonproductive, due to various causes, such as the destruction of the screen or the clogglng of the liner with paralfine. j It is the practice to insert a tool knownl as 'a whipstock, which is in effect a wedge and which 1s adapted to cause a cutting tool lowered into the well to operate against the casing' at one side and make an opening therein, and also to guide drilling tools through said opening when the same are subsequently lowered into the well to operate upon the materialv outside of the casing. A difculty with whipstocks heretofore in use is that there has been no provisionv for locking the same tightly in place, with the result that the revolution of the cutting tool in contact therewith at times has moved the whipstock about within the casing and interfered with the action of the cuttlng-tool upon a single4 point of the casing.

To overcome this diiiiculty, the present invention provides a whipstock 10, which is tapering upon one side 11 to a point 12 where the whipstock bears against the casing 13of the well, and hasa taper 14. from thepolnt 12 to the lower end thereof. To cause the upper. end 15 to bear tightly against the side of the casing 13 and to lock the whipstock lirmly within the well a wedge 16 is provided which presses the point 12 tightly against the casing, thereby acting as a fulcrum to force the end 15 against the opposite side of the casing.

. The wedge 16 is adapted to slide between a pair of flanges 17, 18, as most clearly shown in Fig. 9, and is retained therein by means of a bolt 19, the end of which bolt coacts with the slot 20in the wedge. The side of the wedge 16 acts against the whipstock 14 by bearing against the bottom end thereof between the, flanges 17-18.

To hold the wedge 16 in its inactive position while the tool is being lowered into the well, a pin of some easily sheared material, as for instance brass, is passed through the flanges 17-18, and through a hole 22 in the end of the wedge. To set the wedge 16 when the tool has been lowered to the desired position there is shown a piece of pipe 23ihaving its end closed and suspended from afbolt 24 assin throu h an openin in the closed End ofgtheiia, and screwe Into 'atapped opening in t e bottom end of the vwhlpstock, as most clearly shown in Flg. 3. While the device is bein lowered into the well. the parts already described occupy the position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, and when the pipe 23 comes in contact with the liner 25 1n the lower portion of the well, the bottom end of the wedge seats on the pipe 23, and the string of pipe of the desired length may bet screwed into the coupling 26 upon the lower end of the pipe 23. To lower the whlpstock into position a tool 27 1s provlded,

' the details of which are more clearly shown in Figs. 5 and`8. This tool supports the whipstock by means of the bolt 33, the tool being attached to a string of pipe 29, by means of which it is letl down into place in the well. The lower flattened end of the tool 27 is shown as provided with a slot 30 and with pockets 31, 32 opposite each end of the slot.

To coact with the tool 27 there is shown a stud bolt 33 screwed into a tapped o ening in the whipstock and projecting t rough the slot 30, the space 34 between the pockets 31, 32 giving access to the head of the bolt for thepurpose of placing the same in position, and attaching the tool 27 tothe whipstock.

When the whipstock has been lowered to place the weight of the whipstock with the weight of the tool 27 and the vdrill stem or pipe attached to the same will readily shear the pin 21 and drive the wedge 16 prior to shearing of the bolt 33. If the mere weight of the parts 27 and 29 is not sufli'cient to then shear the bolt 33 the same may be lifted and dropped through a slight distance to bring about the desired shearing of this bolt when the head thereof will fall tothe lower ocket 31 and be removed from the well with the tool 27. The upper edge of the lower pocket 31 is shown as beveled at 35 to more surely guide the head of the bolt into the lower pocket. Preferably, the bolt is weakened by means of a circumferential channel 36,' as shown in Fig. 9. .The concavity of the whipstock throughout its wedging surface is best shown in Fig. 5.

A modied form of the device is shown in 1o, which wiuf @ma the wnipstock ecess 39 the invention has the wedge 16 preferably toothed, as shown at 42. When the end of the wedge 16 impinges against the liner 25 the pin 21 is sheared and contraction of the spring 38 draws the wedge upward and holds it by yielding pressure. The whipstock may then be drawn upward in the well casing to any desired point, after which a slight downward movement will cause the teeth of the wedge to sink into the adjacent surface of the well casing and efectually wedge and anchor the whipstock in place.

A modification of the wedge is illustrated in Fig. 11. This is intended to be used with the setting pipe 23 of Figs.- 1 to 4 inclusive, which form of wedge is toothed on both sides, the teeth 43 acting to prevent the lifting of the whipstock by biting into the metal thereof and the teeth 44 acting to prevent the lifting of the wedge by biting into thecasing, thereby serving to make the whipstock immovable when once placed.

Minor changes may be made in the physical .embodiment of the invention without departing from its spirit. l

I claim: l

1. A whipstock comprising an elongated body having a taper extending throughout a major portion thereof providing a wedging face, a portion tapered oppositely from the angle of said wedge extending from a pomt adjacent to the lower end of said wedge to the lower end of the body, means to press the portion of the body between said tapered portions against the interior of a well casing, whereby to cause the upper end of the body tohug the opposite' surface of the well casing.

2. A whipstock comprising an elongated body having a taper extending throughout a major portion of the length of the body providing a wedging face, a portion tapered opposltely from said wedging face to the lower end of the body, locking means to press the portion of the body between said tapered portions against the interiorr of a well casing whereby to cause the upper end of the body to hug the opposite interior portion of the well casing and to lock the body against movement within the casing.

3. vA whipstock for wells comprising an elongated body having a tapered portion providing a wedging face, wedging means carried by the lower portion of the body, means to bring said wedging means into 1,ao2,4as 3 action at will to lock the body against movement within the well casing.

4. A whipstock for wells comprising an elongated body having a tapered portion providing a 'wedging face, locking means carried by the lower portion of the body, means to bring said locking means into action at will to lock the body against movement within the well casing, and means to prevent premature action of said locking means.

5. A whipstock for wells comprising an elongated body having a taper extending throughout a major portion thereof to provide a wedging face, locking means carried by said body, means carried by said body adapted to contact with an object in the well to bring said locking means into action to lock said body against movement within a well casing.

6. A whipstock for wells comprising, in combination, an elongated body having a taper extending throughout a major portion of its length, providinga wedging face, an oppositely directed taper extending through a minor portion of its length to the bottom of the body, a wedge movably carried by said body adapted to coact with the side of the lower end thereof oppositev said last named taper to press the portion of the body between said tapered portions against a wall of the well casing, whereby to caus'e the upper end of the body to hug the opposite side of the interior of the casing and to lock the body against movement, and means carried by the body adapted upon contact with an object in the well to drive said wedge.

7. A whipstock for wells comprising, in combination, an elongated body .having a tapered portion extending throughout a major portion of the length thereof, a wedge carried by the lower portion of said body, means to 4prevent premature action of said wedge, and means to drive said wedge to lock said body within a well casing at a predetermined location therein.

8. A whipstock for Wells comprising, in combination, an elongated body having a tapered portion extending throughout a major portion of the length thereof, a Wedge carried by the lower portion of said body, teeth upon a side thereof to render said wedge immovable when driven, means to prevent premature action of said wedge, and means to drive said wedge to lock said body within a well casing at a predetermined location therein.

9. A whipstock for wells comprising an elongated body having a taper extending ythroughout a major portion thereof providopposite the slot to give access to the head of the bolt for assembly.

FRED I. GETTY. 

